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erigold13261 · 8 months

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I WANNA HEAR ABOUT THE ARACHNIKIDS ALWAYS BEING WITH SAYU CREW AU THAT YOU JUST TALKED ABOUT (sorry if this sounds too demanding but I’m so intrigued!!!!)

lol, you're good! I was able to tell this was more intrigue than being demanding!

[Adding this after I wrote everything. This came out a LOT longer than I intended. I said I wasn't gonna get into the history or that this would become a fully fleshed out AU (I still don't think it is honestly) but I did write a lot more than I intended. I probably forgot some stuff or went off on tangents and didn't connect back, but your ask made me start thinking a lot so have fun reading all of this! Especially if you were really excited about this AU, I hope I did it justice lol]

I will say, this probably isn't going to be a super fleshed out AU (not like most of mine are half the time lol), so instead of some complicated backstory as to why the Arachnikids and Crew ended up as a group, it will be more simple (so I'm not going back into super past history during like the border war or something to justify the group forming). [[I say this and then I kinda go into a justification as to how this group came to be later on down the line lol]]

I also don't have exactly much for this AU at the moment. I did see your ask you sent about your ideas for the AU, I forgot what it was at this moment since I just skimmed it since I want to give a version I think would happen before possibly altering it with other people's ideas (plus I might want to doodle something with your ask if I get time). So I'll give what I think this AU would hold.

So firstly, I honestly don't think that ALL the Arachnikids would be in the group. Well I guess that depends on who you consider an Arachnikid actually. If you see Hobie as one, I don't see it really being in the group, same with Noir or Porker.

I do see Pav, Miles, and Gwen as definitely being in the group. By extension I can also Gaya since Pav would be in it. For Margo and Peni, it can a toss-up honestly where they could be or could not be.

This actually does call into question how Nueva York would be affected by this without Miles. Looks like Hobie, Noir, and Porker aren't getting out all that soon unless they complete the programs. But anyway, let's just ignore that can of worms for right now and just get onto the mermaid part lol.

Also, so I'm not constantly using Sayu Crew and Arachnikids, I'm just gonna say like the team so I don't have to keep using both titles.

Anyway! I think the team would still start with Tila and Remi interacting at first (Tila stealing Remi's art for one of her songs/covers then apologizing after realizing what she did). Then instead of bringing on Dodo and Sofa, it is Gaya and Pav who join next because of Remi and Pav's relation to Eve.

I can see Pav and Remi being friends after meeting as kids when Eve took Remi to see her side of the family at some point (Eve being so much older she was hanging out more with older members of the family while Remi gravitated to Pav and that age group of the family).

Once Remi and Tila kinda teamed up I can see Remi telling Pav this (either in person on a visit or online) in a very excited manner and then it turns into Pav and Gaya wanting to join in and have fun.

It's mainly just animatics and drawings with some voice acting, sometimes a short full animation would come out, but it got quite a few people interested online. That would be where I can see Gwen getting really into these mermaids online since they expressed a kind of teenage femininity that she wanted to be, which then led into Miles getting into these mermaids to try and have something to talk about with Gwen (and later becoming a pretty big fan himself).

Once the team so far saw how popular they were getting, Remi and Tila recruited Sofa and Dodo respectively since they were already friends and knew those two had skills that could help them out, which only helped the quality of their project to keep getting better.

Miles and Gwen being really big fans of the project probably made their usernames known to the team. Especially if Miles and Gwen made fanart and tried making some music , which made them really popular in this little fandom that started to be made online.

Overtime I honestly see Miles and Gwen virtually becoming part of the team (like how Pav and Gaya were mostly virtual compared to the Crew was still physically close to each other).

Miles and Remi would work as designers for the mermaids. Gwen would help make music (Miles would help with lyrics) but also became another voice for a third mermaid (before it was just 2 with Tila and Gaya. Before it used to be one with Gaya the talking voice and Tila the singing voice, but that changed as they got more popular, some fans still get confused why Sayu's voice changed lol).

Pav also helped out with inspiration and stuff, making cool looking realms, landscapes, designs and more with his powers (kinda looking like AI art from the early days, before it started becoming like photo realistic and junk like that) and having Gaya take pictures to send to the team to work on.

I can also see Pav doing cool stunts that Gaya would record and send in to the rest of the team. Things that Dodo just wouldn't be able to capture with mo-cap either because he lacked those skills, the environment wasn't right, or it went beyond what mo-cap could actually capture at the time.

All of this was going well and good, except that Sofa was basically doing all the editing and putting the whole project together by themself, and were starting to get very overworked since almost none of the others could really help them out in this area. I think Miles definitely would have started learning more editing skills to try and help Sofa out at this point (maybe Ganke taught him or Ganke might come in at this point, I don't know what Ganke's lore is and if he has a tech background).

However, what I see happening is the team kinda asking for help with their project, like if any of their fans would want to help them out in this area or knew someone who could be hired (these are still teens who aren't part of NSR yet, so it's not like they are completely rich or rolling in money).

But the team is in luck! One of their more recent fans is really good at tech stuff, especially things like 3D animation or rigging up avatars! This would be when Margo ends up joining the team. She and Sofa work on the editing and software of the mermaids, with maybe Remi and Miles helping with video editing at times.

Now, at this point, I would say that the mermaids (Sayu, Aoi, and Yua are definitely made at this point, or at least versions of them are) have been around for maybe like 2 years. I can see the team is still about a year away from actually being signed onto NSR. I do think it took the OG Sayu Crew a long time to get enough skill and recognition to be at the Megastar level we see them at (not to mention having to get hologram tech at some point because I doubt Sayu was on the screen when first performing at a Light Up audition).

So right now, the Sayu project, or Mermaid project (whatever it would be called because I doubt it would be called the Doki Doki Mermaid Club in this AU, as that was a spin-off game that was made after Sayu was NSR in my version of things), has Remi, Miles, Tila, Gaya, Gwen, Pav, Dodo, Sofa, and Margo.

The mermaids I'll just use the names I gave them, but honestly with this AU they might change drastically because of the added people in the creation process. Sayu is voiced by Tila, Aoi is voiced by Gaya, and Yua is voiced by Gwen. I can actually see Gwen at some point during the time working on the project probably came out socially to her friends as trans and so when Yua was being made a decision with the team was made to one day make her transition (which happens before joining NSR) so that Gwen could grow with the role as time goes on and she does more voice training. As of now though, Yua is probably like a merman or a mermaid but the backstory hasn't been fully revealed yet and so just has a slightly deeper voice (as Gwen at this point hasn't done any voice training at all).

Miles, Pav, and Remi are all working on visual art for the project. Gwen, Miles, Tila, and Remi are working on songs. Dodo, Pav, and Gwen are working on the motions/mo-cap. And Margo and Sofa (with some help from Miles and Remi at times) are working on the editing and software of the project.

All of this is well and good, but like I mentioned earlier, they are gonna have to figure out a way to get Sayu into the physical world in order to ever be able to try out for a Lights Up audition. In the OG version, I can see Eve actually helping Remi get connections, but in this AU I can actually see Peni being the person they go to.

I like the idea that Peni's family is very tech savvy (most of them probably are technomancers) so she would have the resources to help them. This is probably before she accidentally killed her father with her powers messing up his medical equipment at the hospital.

Honestly, I think it would be really nice if being a fan of the Sayu project could have helped her with her technomancy. Like I can see her making mini robot figurines and stuff because she was inspired by seeing the mermaids and thought their designs were cool and just naturally honed her work through a hyperfixation. So yeah! In this AU kits father is probably still alive! How cool is that! :D

Anyway, I can see Peni making some cool hologram or something of Sayu, something still pretty wonky and not perfect, and posting it online in the fandom/community space. Which absolutely catches the attention of the whole team as it was something so cool, done by someone so young (I see her as the youngest of the Arachnikids).

There would definitely be a line of communication that opened up about how cool kits work was and all that. Peni would be so happy to have been recognized for kits work and show kits parents happily! Something something, I don't really know how this part would happen, but I can see Peni joining the team.

Maybe her dad travels a lot and (considering I see him as a technomancer) probably has connections to robotic works in other areas (like Vandelay or J-1), which would allow Peni to go visit the main part of the team (the OG Sayu Crew) and talk about making an actual working, life-sized hologram of the mermaids.

Either that, or I can see Peni being able to visit Miles and Gwen (as they are closer than Pav and Gaya or the OG Crew), and there they make "live action" videos of the Mermaids. It would required a lot of editing and really good internet, but I can definitely see the team working together to make this video happen (it definitely would not be a livestream for a while as they sort out all the bugs or find a way to get everyone into one area).

Actually, this could be how Ganke gets roped into the situation! He could have been the videographer for any life action stunts as well as like a boom operator with his silencing powers. The team never had to worry about weather conditions thanks to Ganke's powers!

This skill would later help the team when they were working on shot compositions and stuff. Making sure all the mermaids were framed correctly at all times. This would be one less thing Margo and Sofa would have to focus on which allowed special effects (especially in livestreams) to become so much better since both editors could work at the same time without having to focus on 3 mermaids.

This new addition of a different media like this would really push the mermaids' popularity skywards. Especially considering people are now asking if they could meet these mermaids in person. Fans started comparing them to robot stars like 1010 or other robotic artists, which was just a huge boost in confidence for the team.

Honestly, I can even see a new mermaid being put into the mix. The only ones left are Haru and Renho, and I can kinda seeing Peni's voice and personality fitting Haru a lot. That kinda leaves Renho out of the mix, which I am sad about.

The only way I can really see all 5 being in the mix is if Margo ends up also being a voice actor (the team probably wanted to keep mostly feminine voices with an exception for Yua who would later get a more feminine voice as Gwen voice trained).

I can see Margo actually taking up a voice acting role, but that would shift the roles around a bit, but if Ganke is also on the team, as well as Margo and Peni learning how to use their powers more, this is definitely something that can happen!

So in this case, to have all 5 mermaids present before they ever end up at NSR (which I think would kinda be a goal at this point for the team, but they also just want to have an established group of mermaids) the roles would kinda look like this:

-Voices: Tila (Sayu), Gaya (Aoi), Gwen (Yua), Margo (Renho or Haru), and Peni (Haru or Renho).

-Mo-cap/movement: Dodo (Sayu), Pav (Aoi), and Gwen (Yua). Margo would learn to use her powers (astral projection) in a way to be more tech savvy thanks to Peni and would be able to control both Renho and Haru without actually having to do mo-cap (Peni can communicate with Margo through the computer, I can explain this more in another post if I remember lol).

-Live Editor: Sofa and Ganke mainly for live edits (Margo used to do this before being the main mover for Renho and Haru).

-Post Editor (not live): Sofa, Ganke, Margo, and Peni. Miles and Remi help with video editing.

-Hologram/robotic engineer: Peni. She is also the connector between the holograms and the mo-cappers. Without kit the mermaids literally cannot be holograms (this problem gets fixed after the team becomes Megastars as they have the money and resources to make a mechanical connector for IRL holograms to work).

-Animator/Artists: Remi, Miles, and Pav for the most part. 3D animations or anything with models is a group effort honestly but that would fall more into the post editors' hands (2D animation and comics are solely Remi and Miles job though, with Pav helping them get their ideas out physically with his powers)

-Music (lyrics): Tila, Gaya, and Miles are the main lyricists. I can see Dodo helping in this regard as well as Pav.

-Music (non-lyrics): Remi, Gwen, and Dodo. Miles is learning to make music. Sofa and Margo help with editing the music (Sofa more than Margo as they were brought up in a musical city and has more experience with EDM music than she does).

Uh, I think that's all the roles for now that I can think of. I tried to make it realistic in what they would do in terms of work load and skills they have/could have. Honestly looking at this, Tila and Gaya have the least work it seems lol. However, they are probably the ones making the bulk of the lyrics for the music and probably the dialogue/script for any animations (especially if the two get in character and end up making a lot of funny banter).

Anyway, once all of this was settled and all 5 mermaids were introduced, I can see the group trying to get a Lights Up audition. It definitely took some parents more convincing than others (like Gwen's and Miles) but with all the progress that the team has made, I can definitely see them having enough evidence for all their parents to let them go and try out for NSR.

I bet almost all the parents didn't believe they would actually be successful. Thinking that most likely these kids would be turned down and they would have to try again when they were older. So it came as a HUGE shock that the mermaids actually made it and were accepted with basically a fully acceptance from the standing Megastars at the time and from Tatiana.

Which basically meant that the team literally just skipped over a ton of work of having to prove themselves and work their way up to being Megastars. They were literally right at the cusp and a few months of work would grant them the title of Akusuka's charters!

That is to say, it would IF their parents actually let that happen. We know that the OG Crew's family does end up letting this happen (one way or another, I didn't even think about the Crew's emancipation from their families so that had to have happened at some point during all of this). But the other parent's might not be as willing to let their kids go off to a new country and be superstars.

Pav's family is definitely letting him go. He has family in the area and with Eve being a Megastar already, she could help him control his powers (which he is already really well in control of, I will try to talk a bit about the powers more at the end of this, I hope I remember).

Gaya's might be on the fence. On the one hand, this is something she put years into and it has shown she is very talented and could potentially become very rich, famous, and happy. On the other hand, she if still very young and they don't want her to go alone or to move the whole family (I can see her father willing to go with her, giving up his job where they live and trying to find another one if this is truly what Gaya wants, but the rest of their family might not approve).

Peni's family is probably not found of the idea in all honesty, but her parents would definitely be willing to move to Vinyl City if the dad could also get a contract specifically with J-1 or any other tech company in the area (which he would get and be willing to move Peni and the family there, plus they probably have better cybercare there than anything Vandelay could offer which is another plus).

Margo's family, depending on how you see them, would be either pushing her to go or trying to keep her there with them. She says in the movie her home life isn't great, and there is a lot of yelling (and probably neglect as she can just sit on her VR headset all the time in their minds), so she might just be able to promise to send money to them and they would allow her to leave.

Okay, so now Ganke, Miles, and Gwen's families. I do not see them at all being on bored with this decision. They all want what is best for their kids and this does not seem like it would be a good fit. Not with them all being so young and Vinyl City being so far away.

It also would cut in deeply to their education which I see all three of those families taking very seriously. Peni is probably gonna be homeschooled for a bit, Margo would take online classes, the Crew basically drop out, Gaya and Pav would enroll in a Vinyl City school probably. But Miles, Gwen, and Ganke are already in very good schools of their own (and Miles' family need a scholarship for that school I'm pretty sure), so even if the world runs on music, this change from a good schooling to just playing music probably doesn't seem like a good idea for their parents.

I can see Ganke's parents eventually giving in and letting Ganke go work for NSR as long as he get into a good school in Vinyl City and keeps his grades up (they would try to find a way to move to Vinyl City in the meantime as they can't fully uproot their lives right at that moment and this deal is a very limited time offer).

Miles' parents are probably extremely against the idea. Think this is not something that will be a forever career, or that it will become unstable (especially if the blackouts of Vinyl City are well known, which Miles would fight against and saying this could help the city and the world if they could produce enough power with their music). It would just be a very big back and forth but eventually they would see how much this truly means to Miles and let him go. I can see his mom going with him but his dad has to stay behind so he can try to transfer jobs or tie up loose ends.

Actually, depending on when this is, Aaron might still be alive (in this case, instead of meeting Gwen in a support group, they just met online in the mermaid fandom). So instead of Miles fighting alone in why he should be able to go to Vinyl City, Aaron would be there right with him and is the one to convince Jeff and Rio to let Miles go (Aaron probably went with Miles instead of the parents since it would have been hard for them to leave while Aaron could easily accompany Miles to a new life).

The main problem now is Gwen. Since Aaron is alive, Peter probably is too, at least in this AU (because I am now just realizing this, I don't know how to really put Peter into the story, so let's just say he was always helping support Gwen but couldn't really care about the mermaids themselves and so never got into helping with the project himself). Gwen is also still pre-transition and definitely not out to her dad. Or at least she wasn't before the auditions happened.

See, in my head, Gwen did get voice training thanks to the team helping her, but she never used her feminine voice around her dad at all. So when her dad heard her voice, he didn't even realize it was Gwen. Only after he looked up more about the mermaids (as I can see Gwen keeping a lot of this secret or super vague) did George realize Gwen was voicing the transgender mermaid with a very feminine voice. He looked through a lot of the old videos and could hear the voice transition over the years and kinda realized Gwen is probably trans and just never told him.

Instead of waiting for her to come home to talk, he called her up while she was still in Vinyl City or on the plane and tried to confront her. If she was on the plane, I can see her running away to Peter's once she landed and trying to hide from her father. There she would do her best to find a way back to Vinyl City, especially after she realized that she was the last one of the team that needed to get some kind of permission or give and okay. So she just has Ganke, Peter, and Miles help her get to Vinyl City without her dad knowing (probably using Remi and Pav's connection to Eve to do this).

If she was still in Vinyl City, she would have not gone back home and tried to stay with the Crew or with Eve if Remi explained what was happening and Eve offered her own place.

At this point in both options, there would definitely be some corruption and abuse of power on Eve's part to make sure that Gwen would be allowed to stay in Vinyl City and work against her father's wishes even though she is a minor. To Eve, this is helping Gwen get out of a potentially bad situation, but to George it feels like kidnapping or some horrible shit going down and he is losing his daughter. He'd do his best to get her back and would quit his job and move to Vinyl City to try and make things right.

Since he had time after his phone call with Gwen (they probably didn't talk on the phone about this) he never freaked out for a moment and said something to push Gwen away. No, instead this whole issue happened because Gwen was terrified of the potential that her dad would not like hearing she was trans. So instead of a reactive runaway scenario, it was a preemptive runaway scenario.

Anyway, that could probably be a small plot for the Revolution (imagine George and Kliff teaming up to try and take down NSR for their own reasons! ooooh!).

So yeah, once all of that had been squared away, the team is all set to work as the mermaids! They would spend the first few months getting used to everything as smaller Akusuka artists, and work their way up quickly to charters! From here it would be relatively the same as canon NSR for the most part except with 5 mermaids instead of just one of them (I'll think of fight mechanics later because I have to think of how the mermaids would be different now).

Oh! Right! I was gonna talk a tiny bit about Nueva York!

See, the whole thing with this AU hinges on the idea that the arachnikids do not get put into Nueva York really early. Pretty sure I said that Hobie was one of the longer instituted residents at 3 years at the time of the Power revolution.

So that would mean that... uh, pretty sure his one year mark at being at Nueva York that is when the Rock Revolution happened. And I see OG Sayu as having worked at NSR for like... 3 years I think it was?

That means 3 years of mermaid development, 2-3 years of NSR work, and then like 2 years of a timeskip before the Power Revolution (close to 3 kinda? sometimes, idk, still working on that for the OG NSpiR AU honestly lol).

At that time of the Power Revolution, Miles is about 14-15........ That would mean the mermaids were first developed when Miles was 6-7 years old by this logic... It would also mean that Remi was about 7-8 years old when he and Tila started the project....

Okay, so that doesn't work. At all. Specifically because I think that means Peni would have been 4 at the start of the project (and like 6 when kit joined the project). Which obviously doesn't work as joining a project like that is different from like being a prodigy and joining an organization with the help of your parents (looking at you Yinu).

I think I can fix this though. Maybe? I think if I just move the timeline over a bit, so that the mermaid team was brought on when they were older instead of younger (Also I think I'm gonna stick to the 2 years of work instead of 3 years because it messes things up later on I think). So like, instead of Remi being 14 and Miles being 13 at the time of the ROCK revolution (because 3 years of development and 2 years of work), instead I could change the order of the bosses and ages a bit because of timeline reasons.

So for me, I like the idea that the bosses in reverse order is how they got to NSR. That means that instead of Sayu being brought on before DJSS, instead DJSS was brought on BEFORE the team.... Wait no, because Nova had to have been fired from his professor job to get to NSR in the first place.

Okay! New plan! Nova get put in at the same time he originally was, BUT the mermaid team waited until they were super ready for NSR. Meaning that in this AU, there was an entirely different charter for Akusuka that would later be replaced by the team as they traveled up the ranks once they were actually brought on.

So, here's the idea I have. 5 years is the total time it takes from mermaid development until the Rock Revolution (I'm just ignoring the timeskip because I just needed it for ages at the moment and I'll be using 2 years of NSR work, not 3).

[This also means that the Revolution technically takes place later because I am moving the timeline up a little. Maybe something happened and B2J didn't get an audition for an extra year or two].

-At the beginning of development it is just Remi and Tila

-Quickly Pav and Gaya join

-Before the half year or 3/4 year mark Sofa and Dodo join

-At about the 1 year mark is when Gwen and Miles join

-1.5-2 year mark is when Margo joins (they start getting serious)

-At 2 or a bit after Peni joins along with Ganke quickly after

-Then a year of final development before joining NSR

-2 years of work and then it's revolution time!

I put this up here to kinda help me with ages. Since Peni is the youngest I am gonna work with her to help me figure out the ages. Peni is 14 when the timeskip happens, so that means she is 12 when the Rock Revolution happens, 10 when she joined NSR, and 9 when she joined the mermaid project.

I can see that as something happening, especially if Peni's parents are pretty lenient which I can see them as that (especially with someone like Yinu who is working at 9 in OG version lol, meaning she joined NSR even younger). So by the time of the revolution the approximate ages would be:

-Peni (14), Gwen (15), Miles (15), Ganke (15), Pav (15), Gaya (15), Remi (17), Margo (17), Tila (18), Sofa (18), and Dodo (19).

Because of these ages, I think this means that this AUs Rock Revolution happens 3 years after the OG Rock Revolution would happen. That is because Remi is 17 and I have him in my notes as 14 (I used to have him at 15 but for some reason I had to keep checking my notes because I kept saying 14 in my head, so I just changed it to 14 a bit ago since that is what my brain thought was better. So the rest of the Crew got bumped down at that time as well by one year).

Anyway, this means the ages of the other characters also ended up getting changed:

-Mayday (24), Zuke (30), DJSS (44), Yinu (12 going on 13), Mama (43), Neon J (60), 1010 (28), Eve (30), Tatiana (51), Kliff (48), and DK West (34).

Don't know what happened in that 3 year time span that made B2J not start a revolution, but something had happened to delay them.

Oh my fuck... I just realized I went on that whole rant of ages because I was supposed to talk about Nueva York but I went into NSR ages instead! Okay! Nueva York time!

The whole reason I was going to talk about ages was because at this point in the OG NSpidR AU, something would have happened to each of the Arachnikids during the mermaids development time that would have sent them away to Nueva York.

However! Because they had the mermaid project to occupy them and help them find creative solutions with their powers, they never had that outburst moment that got them sent to Nueva York. They learned how to use their powers through positive affirmation and community instead of through fear and repression.

The sucky thing about this is that some people get stuck in Nueva York. Hobie, Noir, Porker are all there without the help of Miles (or the rest of the Arachnikids) so there is very little chance that a Power Revolution will end up happening.

Well, actually, I guess since NSR doesn't get attacked as soon, Ex-Jay would actually have more time to look for Hobie since they aren't being contacted by NSR for at least another 3 years (so I think that would mean Hobie has been in Nueva York for 4-5 years at this point which would be enough for Ex-Jay to just try and get Hobie out themselves since it was put in there very unfairly).

Honestly, it would be cool in this AU that the revolutions were reversed! Like the Power Revolution happened since there was less resources put into Nueva York (since the Rock Revolution couldn't have been used as propaganda) and so that had elements of rock to it thanks to Hobie and Ex-Jay which would be a small inspiration for B2J once they got rejected by NSR during their auditions.

There was an abuse of power in Nueva York, and now there is an abuse in power in NSR. Which would actually tie in nicely with George and Gwen's story plot as this could be propaganda that helps push B2J to take down NSR. Especially if it came out that Eve helped Gwen get away from her father using her power and privilege, it would keep George around after the mermaid fight enough push B2J to get to Eve and then Tatiana (where Kliff's intentions become fully known to the group).

So yeah! I know I said I didn't have much to say, but uh... Well I lied lol! I apparently had a lot to say about this haha! Hope you liked reading my ramblings! :3

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sidsinning · 4 years

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How do you feel about Thomas Astruc? I heard some stuff and apparently the fandom hates him. Also the other question asking you about studios was about the studios for MLB. SAMG is the best animater so most of the fans prefer it but they won't work on the eps anymore. But there are different studios that work on MLB and they aren't the best quality sometimes. So that's what they were asking 😅.

It is completely Zag's fault for letting go of SAMG to make production costs cheaper to fill their own pockets. You think the writer has any part of that process? I know some dumbasses try to go off on him on twitter and its always the stupidest shit that he has no control over or can't change bc fans just watched season 3 episode 5 while he's probably already working on season 5 episode 15, so their "criticism" whether its fair or not, has no point in being directed at him. It will change NOTHING. You think the head writer of a show will apologize and say his writing is shit to some guy on twitter???

I really am not one of the people that defends him from hell to back, but this fan bs is really, REALLY dumb and tiring. Some are trying to say he called them racial/homophobic slurs without any evidence whatsoever. To purposefully make him look bad. That's super fucked up.

Are yalls 5??? Toddlers with IPads??? Just leave the guy alone if you don't like what he's saying. If you want to discuss his behavior rationally, don't bring it to the guy himself. What do you expect when you do that? Flowers and an apology????

Personally, I don't think he's handling this entire debacle properly. He replies to a lot of heated tweets directed at him that only manages to make things worse. He should be ignoring them, like how you handle every asshole that trolls you online. Doesn't mean the fault doesn't lie with the people firing at him in the first place.

Jeremy Zag ignores everything fans say and keeps his thoughts to himself which is why no one shits on him (even though he is the cause for a lot of the shit they're complaining about).

So yeah. I have my fair share of complaints about the writing, but bringing it up to him is not only useless, but rude as hell. Stop.

(This is not directed at you anon, just the stupid people starting shit with him)

#mlb #ml #miraculous ladybug #ml fandom salt #ask #anon

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kageyamas-love · 3 years

Note

Hi friend! Can i request an Aot match up-preferably one of the scouts if at all possible... i don’t know the warriors very well? I hope that’s not to limiting but anyone from paradise basically. I know Reiner! But i just don’t know that much about Porco or pieke. Oh! Colt seems really sweet though! I appreciate him! Male preferably but I’m always open to other options! Whatever you feel is the best option for me i shall take with open arms and trust your judgment!

I’m a female, 18. My favorite color is blue! Or if not that... maybe a light lavender purple. It’s ironic seeing as I’m... deathly allergic to lavender... and many many other things... like everything. I have severe allergy problems. But that’s unimportant. Maybe i could list that as the thing i don’t like about myself. Also... I’m kinda disorganized... it’s the ADHD. My brain runs 1000 miles a minute... constantly. How could i possibly remember where i put something when i only know how to chase the dopamine? Also because of this, i get VERY excited when i talk and i have been known to ramble. I do my best. I just get over invested in things. Hyper fixations and shit- i just... stay on the same shit for weeks. Attack on titan has been my comfort hyper fixation for almost four-five years. I need. Help.

It’s probably gonna be a lot harder to list things i like about myself... damn. I like my hair! It’s reddish blond and it makes me look like Ariel when i go underwater- which is fun because i love to swim! And i like my jokes. I make them constantly and sometimes I’m the only one that laughs but i think they’re funny so what fucking ever.

For hobbies- I’m a writer! I love to write and draw. I make graphic novels. 100% obsessed with all of my oc’s. I’m always bullshitting about them or some new animatic I’m working on. Constantly.... it’s like... the only thing i ever think about if I’m not fantasizing about attack on titan. Thank god I’m actually working to make a career out of it though. I’m an Art major, though i do not wish to disclose to university for privacy reasons and shit.... so i basically get to draw all day and be quirky... except for when i have my biology class... which is always less fun and i fucking suck at it.

I consider myself to be a really forgiving and sweet person. It always takes me a really really long time to get mad at someone enough to blow up on them, and even then i typically always apologize for it afterwards, even if i said something as tame as

“I don’t like that and you hurt my feelings.”

I love taking care of my friends. It’s my love language, along with physical touch and quality time. I just.... Wanna... cuddle. I’m very cuddly... probably need someone who’s not super averse to touch as i like to give lots of random hugs and kisses.

I shall give many back rubs and head scratches and soft kisses and in return i only ask for the cuddles- and i love when people play with my hair so i grew it out super long!!

I feel like i need someone who’s a good listener... because i ramble about stuff a lot. Especially stuff I’m passionate about. I feel like if somebody isn’t listening to me it makes me feel unheard and like what I’m talking about is stupid and i shut down.

And a few random fun facts.

*If i were a member of the Levi squad post timeskip i would be the shortest member, standing at 5’1

* I am deathly afraid of pineapples for no reason at all. I did a project for school where i just drew a still life of nothing but pineapples and pineapple themed objects and titled it ‘terror’. Only i and a few close friends will ever understand it’s true meaning.

* i fall down the stairs or eat the floor in some other horrible fashion it least twice a day

* i drink more than i eat (not alcohol) and spend like all of my money on iced coffee and sodas until i realize i haven’t eaten in two days but by god have i had a Baha blast.

* sometimes i just fucking drive in circles for hours. I sing really loud in my car and dance and it’s therapeutic.

* I’m one of those people that starts laughing insanely when i get really upset or pissed off... it makes me look terrifying.

* I HAVE A PET LIZARD AND SHE’S FUCKING ROTUND. SHES LIKE A FAT FUCKING LITTLE MEATLOAF I HATE HER. (I’m lying i absolutely adore her.) her name is Maple because she is flat and pancakes are flat and maple syrup goes on pancakes. All she knows how to do is eat berries and shit in my floor.

I know you only asked for a little bit of information but I’ve heard before that the more you tell someone the easier it is for them to match you up. I figured I’d make it as absolutely easy for you as possible by throwing my entire life into a page for you.

a/n omg you seem so fun and crazy we’d get along great😐✋🏻

i match you with armin!

i think the two of you would get along so well! first off, he’s best friends with eren, so he won’t have a problem with your craziness.

he’s also very open minded and a very good listener! he’d never get annoyed with you and he’s very patient, so if you’ve ever forgotten something, he’ll understand.

just in general, your love languages would compliment his.

also, he would love your lizard. he’s interested in the smallest things so imagine him seeing your lizard? he’s going to be so excited like ‘i’ve read about those! i’ve always wanted to see one in real life!”

#armin x reader #armin aot #aot matchup #armin arlet x reader #aot #aot x reader

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kkmm32 · 4 years

Video

I MADE MY FIRST EVER ANIMATIC AND ITS SO STUPID BUT I LOVE IT SO MUCH AND IM REALLY PROUD Tumblr absolutely destroyed the quality so apologies for that

#bfb #shitpost #bfb two #bfb four #animatic #animation

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badminecraftsideblog · 3 years

Text

Uhh in case anyone missed techno’s stream I made a list summary thing, spoilers under cut

Techno was a whole 5 seconds late he apologized for 30

He talked about chess for a while because Tommy was late

Tommy finally shows up and they head to l’manburg

The nether portal has hit puberty

They fix some broken fanart and then find Fundy and Ranboo. techno shows off his wither skulls and says he is going to spawn one so Fundy makes him and Tommy pose for his next thumbnail.

Techno says he’s gonna spawn the wither no matter what, but—

“If you guys give me my sword, I’ll help you kill the wither” (but he’s gonna spawn it anyway)

WITHER

Spider dies (Spiderman is canon dead)

Quackity poster is gone

It’s funny because the wither is chasing Techno

Panic, fundy does not have a bow

Ranboo gives Tommy techno’s sword and axe for no discernible reason

Everyone boos ranboo :(

Vikkstar joins, declines to join booing

Techno demands the nether star, which Fundy picked up

Tommy and Techno threaten Fundy, they pot and Fundy and Ranboo are basically cornered

Vikkstar joins the call with terrible audio quality

Techno& Tommy almost kill Fundy, Fundy begs to “go get it from where I put it away”

“Fundy I am going to commit so much terrorism”

“It’s in my enderchest, believe me!”

[ranboo just writing in his diary]

Techno shows his enderchest and threatens fundy and ranboo more, basically “what do you think I would do if I didn’t get my nether star”

Fundy is on half a heart

Tommy traps him in a box

Fundy doesn’t know about the discs

Everyone yells at Fundy

Techno places the enderchest

Fundy holds the nether star

Techno promises not too kill him, Fundy hands it over

They demand the discs

Fundy says he doesn’t know where they are, Techno believes him but Tommy goes bad cop

“This is nice, Ranboo, isn’t it?” — Technoblade, with a crying Fundy in the corner

Fundy cries for a while. It was loud and I couldn’t hear anything else

Fundy drowns. (Idk if it was canon)

Tommy demands to be told about the next meeting of L’Manburg ppl, to find out more about the discs

Fundy breaks and explains the festival, which is tomorrow

I stopped paying attention for a bit, Tommy and Vikk talked about snapchat

Ranboo is sad, Techno is brutal

Fundy: “you killed Spiderman!”

Tommy and Techno awkwardly walk away

In their own vc, Tommy celebrates and Techno says they may have gone too far and demands his axe back (he has his sword now though)

Tommy apparently dropped the axe a few blocks back, they save it before it despairs… What a child

Tommy says he feels like they’re finally on the same page, Techno wonders where his trident is, they decide to blow up the community house.

“I love terrorism!” - Tommy

Sibling vibes

Homeless Dream jokes

Tommy doesn’t know who built the community house, realizes it was Dream

Techno comes clean about not thinking Tommy was useful until now

(He’s trying to keep his brisk viewership and also ants) (long story)

He admits he is going to destroy L’manburg for what it did for him and Phil because “I have he slights bit of respect for you”

“L’manburg is the source of all your problems”

--Rp is interrupted with optifine glitches—

Sellout timer is ignored. (this is serious)

Tommy: “L’manburg is my unfinished symphony”

Tommy wants discs, Techno says he’ll blow it up either way

eret is randomly there

Tommy stands out in the rain because cool animatic pose

Techno explains why he respects Tommy now, and says he could potentially be useful, or even a friend

“That’s all I’ve ever wanted—“

Techno says no more lies, the country will be gone, it’s ok if Tommy says no but in his best interest to side with Techno

TOMMY JOINS TECHNOBLADE

On one condition: discs first

“Nope.”

Techno will help him get the discs back but not necessarily first. Technoblade says he’s blowing up L’Manburg at the first opportunity

They forgot to check on the dogs, so they go back from the nether

“Don’t you love America?” (Techno to Tommy)

“No, if I see America in real life I’ll literally—”

“This doesn’t bode well for the EVENTUAL SBI MEETUP” POGGGGGGGG

Tommy says he’s gonna box with KSI,Techno is unimpressed

They check on the dogs. Many dogs.

“Hey, hey, should we fight?” (Tommy to Techno)

“Uhh, nope”

Techno shuts down tommy’s professional boxing dreams

“Not with that adittude I can’t”

“Me and you vs Phil and Wilbur”

You can put potions on dogs it’s cool

They see a name. Dream.

“Time for operation violence”

Perry the Platypus theme music but DMCA so DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU

Techno implies that he pays his taxes.

Eret is apparently floating.

Chat is getting baited by more fake Dreams…

Techno is disconnected for a second, Tommy shrieks fighting a ghost

Techno’s laptop shuts off and he gets shot at as he’s putting his password in

Techno threatens to only meet up with Wilbur and Phill

“Mmm audience retention rate, mmm ants” - Techno AND Tommy

They plug their channels to ants and prepare to craft beacon

Bell time BELL BELL SUBSCRIBE TO TECHNOBLADE

So many ants are subscribing, it’s great. Tommy points out how many ants there probably are around you right now, threatens to kill them all. Techno defends the ants because he needs them to subscribe

They craft a beacon!!! That was apparently the whole point of the stream. Tommy wants to pu the beacon on top of his tower (no) inside a mountain (ok, Techno gets emerald blocks)

Mount Beak On is christened with a good luck cat and a bunch of weird chat messages

Tommy asks about the all women are queens thing. Again. (It’s chess)

Tommy thinks if either of them tweeted “all women are queens” it would get 300k likes

They get an iron for the beacon, Techno sneezes violently and says “I’m gonna kill this child.

Tommy asks for help with his house, Techno insults it and the tower and says no.

Chat says bless you, Tommy doesn’t. Then chat says it’s corona. Sneezing is not a symptom, guys.

Tommy leaves. Offline raids Techno.

Techno realizes he now has his sword back. ORPHAN OBLITERATOR FTW! (80% complete in the to-do list)

SELLOUT TIMER for the raiders

Techno’s gonna stream the festival!!!

Techno thinks Tubbo is probably just keeping his trident because he doesn’t have one, he only has 54 wither skulls left :(

End stream.

#technoblade #tommyinnit #ranboo #fundy #dsmp

0 notes

frolick-crow · 6 years

Text

NN Comic Ending....

Hey everyone. I was going to record and put together a video, but even after a couple of tries, I still get pretty bad quality. It’s not just my bad voice, its also the work of an old, cheap mic. Without further ado, I’ve got some things to talk about.

Never Normal’s been on hiatus for a good 3-4 months now. It’s production this year has definitely slowed down, many because of work — both retail and freelance — and an unhealthy dose of depression. It’s been a bad year for me personally, and I’ve been feeling really a lot more unmotivated and unenthusiastic about art. Keeping up with the comic has been a tremendous struggle, and it’s become more unenjoyable over time. I loved working on it at first, and it was great to finally see my vision come to life, but I jumped into this way too eagerly without any proper preparation, with barely a story to draw out. All day, every day, I felt like NN was just falling apart, and then I was feeling like I was falling apart myself. In the end, the comic just became too much for me, so I decided to break myself away from it completely so I could focus on more important things that I had to deal with like making a living. That being said, the NN comic is coming to an end and will not continue. I’m sorry for sprinting this on you all of a sudden, but I’ve been dying to get this off my chest for a while. It’s a scary decision to make, but it makes me feel a lot better to take a bit off my plate. Tackling NN on my own was a mimic of the same mistake I’ve been making for years. I’m not used to working on personal projects with others, let alone talking about them, but I want to change that.

Now that I’ve stated the comic ending, I want to clarify that Never Normal is still a project I’ll be working on, just not in comic form. I may doodle a few silly comics for fun, but the lore will be explored through visual development. I also plan to make more Never Normal animated projects. I’ve already started on a script for a pilot, and I want to create a pitch bible to show to friends, family, and eventually a bunch of animation studios. I’ve always seen NN as an animation project, not a comic. Sure the comic has helped me visualize what I’d like to one day turn into an animated sequence, but for me the comic still doesn’t capture the wacky motion and movement I envision for NN; it’s just too static. I’ll be doing more character vignettes, like the one I did with Pip, animatics, and get back to work on the AMV with Diana, a project I’ve been anticipating to do for a couple years now. As for the remains of the comic, the pages will still be up and the blog will continue to exist, just not update.

Other than Never Normal, I’ll be finding ways to work on more fan animations and smaller personal projects. I’ll be looking for more studio based jobs too and build up a better portfolio. Patreon is still in the works too, just need to touch up my “About” section and revise the rewards. I’m real nervous about launching it, but I think every little amount of money I earn will help. I really hope next year will be a lot better than this year. I want to thank you all again for being such supportive, devoted and patient fans. To the people who were looking forward to seeing the comic return, I’d like to solemnly apologize. I know you all have been eager to see the comic’s return, but it’s just turned into dead weight and kind of slowed me down. Like I said, there’s still some days where I’ll feel like making a cute comic with the NN cast, and maybe I’ll grab a friend or two and we can make a webcomic story together. Just now, I don’t have the energy or commitment to such a big project.

Thank you all for understanding. Here’s to better year.

You can still read what’s left of the comic here: http://never-normal-webcomic.tumblr.com/

#nevernormal

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bluriginals · 7 years

Text

Quest for the Northwest Review

@gfdeepwoods @mysteryseeker

Sorry to keep you waiting!

It's been a long time coming, but it finally came! Not only since the last Blu Blogs (all the way back in March; yikes!) but since I made the promise to provide a review of Quest for the Northwest for a member of its crew (all the way back in June). Now I know what you're thinking and I will tackle these thoughts in order of importance:

1.) What's Quest of the Northwest?

It's the first installment of Gravity Falls: Deep Woods, a fanimatic based series chronicling some adventures in between the normal episodes of Gravity Falls

2.) jesus /march/

yes i know i'm awful

3.) Someone requested you to review their stuff?

i know it's so exciting!

ok maybe none of you were thinking that but i was and it was so flattering and cool and stuffs

4.) Does this have anything to do with the Mystery Hut review?

Only vaguely; MysterySeeker (who I'm assuming is running the project) saw it and thought I was apparently good at this so they asked me to throw some of my...'me' their way.

5.) You promised this review in mid July and it's almost October. What do you have to say about that, HydroPants?

Uuuuuuuuh...there's my ride?

Now in my defense, the first part was released January 16th and the second Hirsch Day and that's a 5 month wait so if anything I'm like, 3 months fashionably early!

Read and weep, boys.

Alright alright, in all seriousness deepest apologies for me taking SO long to get to this. Getting that feedback on time is likely important for whatever you guys are doing with Deep Woods moving forward and it's just plain unprofessional. Really sorry to you all! But enough apologizing, let's get to the review of...

If you haven't already watched it, you should check out part 1 here .

As I stated before, I might not have known about this or looked into without my Mystery Hut review and as I stated there, I was really hyping that project up. Since then I've learned to abolish hopes/dreams and reject happiness, but the thumbnail did give a good first impression. It had a well-crafted quality to it and had been made specifically TO be the thumbnail. This really contributed to my gut feeling that Quest for the Northwest would really be something special. And let me tell you it is DEFINITELY really good. However, rather than talking about it on its own, allow me to spend the entire review judging it not only by its own merits, but by comparing it to Mystery Hut. Naaah, just kidding I'll leave that ol' coot alone. Before I we go in on the story, let's talk about the presentation. Oh my.

Presentation

This presentation is just /amazing/. It's really like taking a step back into Gravity Falls as if nothing's changed (as much as you can in an animatic sense). Starting off with the sound direction, Quest for the Northwest has a distinct element that truly gives it the GF edge any project attempting to emulate the original series needs: the music and audio cues. Brad Breeck's music fills the scenes it needs to and adds to the atmosphere so much. However we aren't dealing with Johnny Test or a 4Kids dub here; the fanimatic knows when to stop talking and deliver some golden silence.

This example from early in the episode where Mrs. Northwest discourages Pacifica from playing with the commoners utilizes sound cues in a way that emphasizes what happens in it

I can't think of a true example of silence off of the top of my head, and it's likely that many scenes use a more lowkey part of the OST, but that works towards the same objective: quieter, more somber moments that appropriately juxtapose the louder ones. It never feels like these silences are too long, awkward, or the result of someone flubbing a line or not being able to think up some dialogue to put in the place of said silence. Speaking of flubbing lines, there's basically none of that: the casting and voice direction are extremely solid. I feel as though some of the people from Mystery Hut (THIS AND TWO THINGS LATER WILL BE ONLY COMPARISONS I SWEAR) may be 'reprising' their roles in Quest for the Northwest (which will hence forth be abbreviated as QftNW) and if they are I gotta give some shout outs to them and the voice director because the delivery and inflections of every line are just right and more. You really get a sense of the emotions and mindset of the characters with every word they say and on the whole the inflections feel very reminiscent of GF. Dipper, Pacifica, Jeff and Preston while not perfect matches are honestly good substitutes and deliver every one of their lines the way you'd imagine the real VAs to. Soos is honestly spot on aside from not being as deep but the real star of the show is Mabel. Though she isn't a near perfect match like Soos, whenever I hear her voice actress speak I can actually feel those Kristen Schaal-isms in her; not just through her dialogue but how she says certain words and just her voice in general. There's even special attention to detail in some places like when Jeff's voice breaks when he's pepper sprayed and in some instances, you can even tell what a character is saying based on their mouth in a single frame.

You can EASILY tell that Jeff's saying something with an 'L' sound, and while you don't have to mark little things like this in boards unless they're really important, I appreciate it a lot.

The only gripes I have with the sound (and they're admittedly minor) is that I feel like Part 1 is a bit quiet, even at max volume and Snadger's hiss audio in part 2 is loud. Like, if you have it at 100% prepare to get that faux jumpscare chord feel. But these really are nothing in comparison to the great sound in this fanimatic.

Upon my first viewing of the episode I was blown away at how well-crafted and consistent the art was. I could NOT believe that there were that many boarders; 4 at most. But I found myself shocked to see a plethora of different artists names flash on screen during the credits (16 to be exact; 4 times as many as appeared). On the second viewing, I was definitely able to distinguish more than 4 styles, but 16 is still WAY more than I'd ever guess. It's just so consistently good, on-model, and expressive, its many artists are able to carry it together with pride.

This shot in particular is really pretty, so I wanted to highlight it :)

Sure there'd be occasional hiccups like Dipper and Mabel's heads being squarshed in some frames or the first portion of Jeff's beast slaying plot but you still get a genuine sense of effort from each and every frame/artist and (Mystery Hut comparison incoming) not ONCE does it ever stoop the low, haphazard inconsistencies and disregard of the Gravity Falls artstyle as Mystery Hut did. In fact, it goes so much further beyond that. Just...take a look.

(Nearly) Every. Single. Face in this project oozes with the Falls. I absolutely loved it and it was a pure joy to look at. Not a second goes where something isn't moving and it's in the best way: each frame is logical and compliments the one preceding and succeeding it. I can honestly imagine so many of these frames transitioning smoothly from one to the other in animation and this level of attention to detail and desire to express a genuine Gravity Falls experience is commendable to say the least.

They remembered dramatic, shading using close-ups and in some shots they even bothered to put in unique towns people that fit the style! Cute!

But the biggest thing of all that propels this to new heights artistically has got to be the understanding of the characters.

QftNW has such a great understanding of Gravity Falls' characters not only in how they talk but equally as important: how their physical body works in relation to other objects as well as themselves.

Dipper's (audience) right hand has such a nice depth to it and the way Pacifica's hair bends on the bench looks like it jumped straight outta the show.

But there's on example that stood out to me above the rest. Just...look at this beautiful 8 frame scene where Dipper and Mabel take off their Pacifica costumes.

Forgot how tumblr shrinks wide images like this, so here: bask in the full glory of these frames!

Whoever drew this is my Super Star, the 1-Up Boy (or Girl). It's on model, it understands how the individual 'pieces' of Dipper and Mabel work (hair, arms, face etc.), it has touches like their changing facial expressions and Dipper turning his hat forward. I just can't do it justice this scene is so /good/. MysterySeeker when you get to this, please give that boarder special shout outs. I love this scene so much aaaaaaaaaah

Alright that's enough gushing about the glorious art and sound. There's one last remark I'd like to make about the presentation. The episode managed to get in a special monochromatic full version of theme which is great, but in the end the episode totaled out to /27/ minutes. Now, if that's what they want to go with that's absolutely fine. Nothing wrong with having your Gravity Falls fan series run a couple over the normal limit. But if they really want to go for that Gravity Falls feeling they should cut 5 of those minutes.

Story and Characters

Quest for the Northwest's basic premise is that Dipper and Mabel decide to go out to a parade being held to honor the election of the holder of the best running gag, Tyler Cutebiker. However upon seeing a miserable Pacifica in the parade Dipper and Mabel (mostly Mabel) callout to her and try to get her away from the parade and by extent her parents. All isn't right however as with Jeff's role as leader being questioned due to his inability to find a new queen, the town's precious princess may find herself in more trouble than she's bargained for. The basic story definitely shows lots of promise, particularly in the idea of having an episode where the Pines twins both interact with Pacifica. But before we really go in on that let me talk about the structural elements that hold up this story.

As stated in the presentation section, the visuals here are on point and they really propel the episode forward with great action based gags, both subtle and dynamic. Jeff rubbing his eyes after being pepper sprayed and Preston's reactions to all of the filthy commoners being near him (Soos especially) added to the scene SO much.

Don't touch me, PEON. And on a similar note...

Don't touch me phone, PEON.

The characters aren't just moving through each scene as lifeless dolls, occasionally making flanderized quips that are supposed to remind you "YUP THAT'S THEM". That wasn't uh, that wasn't supposed to be a Mystery Hut sneak diss either I just wanted to say that the characterization is great. Speaking of that third Mystery Hut diss, it's finally time to get to it as we talk about the characterization. Mabel's characterization is MILES better than it is in Mystery Hut. There she was a spouting faux-Mabel non-sequiturs and generally being a flanderized nuisance. But here? Her dialogue isn't substanceless; it's endearing, and smart, and feels SO Mabel. And being that this is QftNW, it's not just her dialogue. It's her actions. How she moves and the things she does: licking the beard hair twice (and ultimately eating some at the very end), her "balloon sense" in scene 2, picking the cotton candy off the bench when they hear people calling for Pacifica and then sliding next to them when they look behind the wall.

It culminates into making Mabel feel well represented and because she's one of our two protagonists, it's pretty important to have her on point. And that my friends is that LAST you'll hear of Mystery Hut for the rest of this review. Probably ;)

I think that Pacifica was handled really well too! Some fans would've had her be a complete 180 from her appearance in Northwest Mansion Mystery, having her be all nice, and kind, and forcing Padippica down our throats in a way that feels unnatural, Pacifica still retains a lot of her personality. She's clearly only JUST learning to be better person and it's the gradual type of character development that I love to see.

Pacifica says "It's ok, most people are terrible at what they do." and not only is this a funny line but it feels perfect for a kid who's only steadily learning to drop her rich girl tendencies.

Sort of reminds me of the Steven Universe episode "Beta" where Peridot is showing Amethyst and Steven the Beta Kindergarten and making remarks about the gems that emerged there that really bring out her more Homeworld-like habits.

Jeff's pretty well-handled as well. Due to him being more of a recurring character in the series he's got nothing that really stands out but he's still well represented, especially in relation to the show. Basically all of his dialogue feels right at home with him. Though there is one action he takes in the story that particularly stands out, and that's retrying the Norman scheme from Tourist Trapped. I know this seems like the type of thing that'd I normally whine about and call forced reference/fan-pandering, but the way it goes about is such a unique parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. The Gnomes are NOT the smartest creatures in Gravity Falls, so it makes perfect sense for them to double down on such a make-shift plot. It further expands on the parallel by having the plot fall apart very plainly. Him stumbling over his words, dropping the hand, and just coming on too strong coupled with Pacifica not buying it at any point and eventually fighting her way out is a serves as a smart subversion of Mabel's encounter with them, helps advance the plot in a unique direction. On the topic of throwbacks that brings us to Dipper and well...

For the most part I believe Dipper's also himself. At first I was thinking he was being a bit of a downer but honestly, it fits Dipper to be resistant against things like going to the parade. Him not thinking about Pacifica's huge milestone in Northwest Mansion Mystery (NMM) where she disobeys her parents is a little bit harsh but things really go over the edge when after the twins manage to get Pacifica off the float, Pacifica mentions that while appreciative, she doesn't want to be caught with them for fear of more punishment from her parents. Dipper replies to this by saying "See Mabel, she hasn't changed at all. And here I thought you were gonna start trying to break the world's worst chain".

Barring the fact that reprising the "world's worst chain" in the context of demeaning Pacifica comes off as absolutely brutal seeing as the line was such a landmark part of NMM (it was the thing that made Pacifica finally consider a change of heart), it feels very forced. Dipper didn't need to say something that cut so deep AGAIN especially after Pacifica saved ALL of their lives not out of obligation but out of wanting to do the right thing. And that's just the world's worst chain part; the fact that he says she hasn't changed at all? Way too much. And considering that she's just doing something as little as running away from a boring parade and not tricking Dipper into exorcising a ghost it was really unwarranted for him to go nuclear on her like that. Honestly this is the only instance of bad writing in this entire fanimatic. Like, Pacifica not wanting to consistently disobey her hella strict parents again makes sense. Has the Fear of God never been put into this boy by Mr. and Ms. Pines?

But don't let this minor blemish make you think it's NO good. The episode's writing is honestly SO good. And it's referential/injoke humor definitely isn't a hit or miss in most cases. You know, based on the fact that I gave 1 hit example and 1 miss example; I didn't want it to come off as QftNW being a crapshoot when it comes to reference jokes. It's very subtle but you can catch things like 'Dope Dog', an obvious reference to Cool Cat who we all probably know from YMS, Pizza Guy being jibbed YET again,

Shout outs to whoever boarded the first montage too btw

Alex Hirsch's face being on the TV and name somewhere else in the episode, the former Mayor's honorary statue and the fact that it has 2012 on it,

You guys KNOW they would've had to vague the date if this was a real episode.

And best of all Pacifica's response at the end when asked if she wants to visit the shack. If you don't get it, listen to how she responds to Dipper. You'll get it. QftNW is just plain good at balancing the worlds of emulation and fandom. I salute you fair fanimatic.

As you could guess from how much I've gushed about the characterization, the writing is a joy. The jokes are very much Gravity Falls and from start to finish this episode is doing its best to give you that feel when you have GF.

On first viewing this had me /ROLLING/, oh my god. What a great way to start off an episode.

And it keeps this kind of stuff up throughout its entire run. BTW shout outs to one of the guys who said "MS. NORTHWEST" while they were looking for her. This is so random but the way one of them said it honestly sounded like professional VA work. He knows who he is. Alright that's enough goofing around. How do I feel about the actual plot, the meat of the story separated from the writing/art framework? As stated before I truly believe this to be a great fanimatic. Its production efforts are high for a fanmade project and you can just tell lots of love and heart were put into every aspect of it. But if I'm being quite honest, I found the actual plot sort of weak. The writing itself was top notch so that did it a lot of favors but if you take a step back, you realize that not a lot really happens. Like, a lot HAPPENS but not a lot of substance happens. The episode deals with two primary conflicts: Pacifica trying to take a break from her daily routine and avoid her parents and Jeff trying to prove he's a worthy leader. Both are handled in a pretty straight forward manner: Pacifica avoids her parents all day and worries how they'll react, Dipper and Mabel come up with a valid excuse less than half way through the episode; Jeff tries to kidnap Pacifica, fails, the kids pity him and help him out by doing the classical costume farce and all is well. It's lacking the strong character plot (ex. Mabel questioning if she is a good person in Last Mabelcorn, Dipper confessing his crush in Into the Bunker, Dipper and Mabel wondering if Stan is really what he seems in well, Not What He Seems, Soos learning how to deal with girls/the fear of being alone in Soos and the Real Girl etc.) present in nearly every Gravity Falls episode. Even the segments within Bottomless Pit! and Little Gift Shop of Horrors managed to place some significant character plots that easily feel just as strong as the real episode's despite them not actually happening. Here minor conflicts arise, but they're never anything that hard to surmount or quite frankly, that interesting. After letting it sit with me for a while, I realized that

1.) The episode has two montages. Not that having two is some abominable sin they should've avoided at all costs, in fact montage 1 is great for giving an abridged showcase of the kids day together. Montage 2 on the other hand doesn't exist to parallel montage 1 (showing an advancement/decline), or show anything of interest in general. It's just your normal training montage. It has funny jokes but it seems sort of excessive. Montage 2's results are a total flop and result in them having to think up a b plan. The fact that montage 2 is ultimately not important isn't even lampshaded, in fact it's more played as unfortunate with how Jeff nearly cries. I'm not saying that montage 2's failure should've been played for laughs, especially since in episode the failure is punctuated by a gag, just that in the end montage 2 was a bit cliche and unnecessary.

2.) Pacifica's presence in the second half feels sort of extra and as if it's there primarily so we can get more Dipper, Mabel, Pacifica relationship-growing-time fanservice. Which is not to say that is at ALL a bad thing (the bit in the last scene before the credits scene is SO cute and not forced at all I love it), but when you're trying to write a good story, particularly a Gravity Falls one, having a strong central conflict to carry the episode is pretty imperative. One easy example I can think of off of the top of my head? There could've easily been parallels drawn between Jeff and Pacifica and the pressure from the obligations they have to their families. Jeff on his only simply isn't that compelling a character and making him into a compelling character that late into Gravity Falls isn't that beneficial. He isn't locked out of development due to being a recurring character, but having him have his own little arc that ultimately contributes to Pacifica's (a major character) would've been a better choice. There's obviously more than one way to do things, but that's something I thought would've worked out well.

3.) The title "Quest for the Northwest" doesn't reflect the episode's contents. Jeff's easily apprehended by Pacifica so there's no such quest to speak of and it isn't a clever bait-and-switch title like "The Ricklantis Mixup" because Pacifica defeating the gnomes on her own isn't the big bait of the episode, it's just a nice little parallel to Dipper and Mabel's encounter. Had it actually been about Pacifica being kidnapped and Dipper and Mabel going on a quest to save her whilst say, Pacifica decides to help Jeff out of pity after she breaks free on her own, eventually coming into her own as someone who's taking the first steps to being a better person, THEN it could've been called Quest for the Northwest. It would have the double meaning of not only Dipper and Mabel being on a quest to save Pacifica (the Northwest), but Pacifica being dealt her own 'quest' in helping Jeff out. But that's just me spitting out a specific theoretical I liked, there's tons of ways the title "Quest for the Northwest" could've been justified. The episode's plot just isn't one of them.

4.) Last and certainly least, the black eyebrowed Gnome who's clearly trying to usurp Jeff really isn't relevant. He's shown as the leader of this growing insurgence, but all he really does is talk mad game in two scenes and get absolutely destroyed in an admittedly funny scene. He didn't need to be his own character and the gnomes dissatisfaction could've been more properly represented with a mob rather than a man...urr, gnome. But really, this is a drop in the bucket compared to the bigger issues presented in #1 and #2. Had those been more refined this would just be an outlier rather than a cherry on top of a problem cake. A single layer problem cake mind you, but still a problem cake.

But enough of the negative: in the end Quest for the Northwest is a satisfying episode that captures the soul of Gravity Falls magnificently well despite its faults. An absolute must see for Gravity Falls fans, and if you for some reason read this review without watching it, check it out part 1 and part 2 here. There's plenty to see both writing, visual and gagwise that I didn't spoil, and honestly? Not seeing it is a disservice if you like Gravity Falls a lot. Definitely worth a watch. 8/10; MUCH better than Sonic Lost World.

th-that's my thing now guys. any time i give a number rating it's also quantitatively compared to sonic lost world u

Anyway enough of me babbling, if you enjoyed this fanimatic like I, you should check out their tumblr page for updates on whatever they have in the works . Pretty sure the next episode coming is being titled "Deep-Rooted Misunderstanding" so look out for that, cause I know I will! And while you're here, you might as well check out some of the rest of the this blog and see if you find anything you like. Stay tuned because next week, we're going to be talking about Sonic Forces and/or Mario Odysse-- on second thought let me not get back on my bullshit and promise next week, see you guys in june lmfao

#The Bluriginals Blogs #Gravity Falls #Gravity Falls Deep Woods

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